Thursday, August 11, 2016

This summer blockbuster isn't as good as you would have hoped for, but also, it isn't nearly as bad as you have heard. How in evil-fresh-hell does a wretched movie like Twilight get a higher rating than Suicide Squad is beyond me. "What a ride!" exclaims Harley Quinn. This movie isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it's exactly that - one fantastic neon-laser-light-show ride from beginning to end. And I fully enjoyed this movie despite its many flaws.

The plot goes like this; the cold-hard government operative Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) secures approval to create a task-force of the worst-of-the-worst criminals who might be able to do some good, aka perform a rescue operation in Midway City, where an entity known as the Enchantress (Cara Delevingne - love) is fashioning a super-weapon that could destroy earth. Leading the team is red, white & blue Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman - love), a soldier who is romantically involved with the Enchantress's alter-human ego June Moone. Oh, and Quinn's boy-toy-thug the Joker (Jared Leto) is also lurking around.

The strong aspects of the movie include (some of the) performances and (some of the) characters. Will Smith and Margot Robbie definitely shined. Smith's Deadshot is the closest thing the group has to a leader. His backstory with his daughter, however, was nonsensical and melodramatic, but I can let that slide. Robbie on the other hand steals the entire movie. She plays Harley Quinn with just the right amount of peppy lunacy. Whenever the movie got too cheesy, she was there to lighten the mood with clever quips. The tone of her character is the tone the entire movie should have strived for. It was dark, sexy, fresh, a little twisted, and extremely fun. The chemistry between Deadshot and Quinn was electrifying and funny.

The idea behind SS was a good one, but as is the case with most DC inspired comic book movies, the plot was overly stuffed, rushed and messy. There were a few characters we could have completely done without. Slipnot was most likely there to establish Flag's authority, so we'll let that slide. But Katana and Killer Croc were the biggest wasted opportunities (Boomerang is a close runner up even though he was super funny). If Katana isn't going to trap anyone's soul with her sword and/or find a way to bring her hubby back to life, don't even bring it up! And why wasn't Killer Croc ripping those bad guys to shreds?! Rick Flagg and June Moone's relationship was bland and unnecessary, with a cheese-ball ending. And even though I liked the crazy-zany portrayal of the Joker, his character seemed like a huge afterthought. He was most likely there to develop Quinn's backstory, which I'm OK with, but it almost would have been better for them to 'not' show him fully until the very end.

It's a shame Warner Bros. threw too much attention on making this movie look fantastic they forgot to invest in a structured plot. DC has a long way to go in terms of churning out undeniably great comic-book movies outside of The Dark Knight trilogy. But with that said, SS isn’t deserving of the curb-stomping, poo-stain it received. It still manages to fully entertain, excite and thrill. It's fun, funny and definitely worth seeing (sans 3D).

Looking for something?

Movie Clip

Movie Quote:

"I don't know what space exploration will uncover, but I don't think it'll be exploration just for the sake of exploration. I think it'll be more the fact that it allows us to see things. That maybe we should have seen a long time ago. But just haven't been able to until now."

Sound Clip

Did you know?

Some of the scenes were filmed at the Coachella Festival in 2017, where Lady Gaga was the first female headliner in ten years. Festival-goers paid ten dollars to see the scenes being filmed, although recording devices were locked away to prevent any footage being leaked.

Total Pageviews

Followers

About Me

I feel film matters because we use it to tell stories about who we are as a society. They are a record of what makes us human and what concerns us in our everyday lives. Film has the power to transform emotions and it gives us opportunities to expand our horizons. It has the power to connect us to a whole new world outside our own. It's magical. Moreover, film is the most prevalent form of communication and entertainment in the postmodern world. Even while we are mindlessly absorbed in a favorite entertaining past time, we are subtly and unconsciously washed with layers of cultural values. Some films are fleeting entertainment while others are truly magnificent, dazzling, thought-provoking works of art.
Long Live Film!